


Fractured / Heart

by HowTpoTypo



Category: League of Legends
Genre: F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Slow Burn, Torture, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:48:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29698044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HowTpoTypo/pseuds/HowTpoTypo
Summary: After being gone for 15 years, Crystal returns to a new Runeterra, one protected by the League of Legends. Joining the League, she finds herself among new friends, but her past is dark, and old ghosts are coming back to haunt her.(M for violence. Contains a mix of old lore, new lore and my lore, as well as my (non-si) OC)
Relationships: Riven (League of Legends)/Original Female Character
Kudos: 3





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So I designed a league champion and liked her so much I had to write a fic. What can you do.  
> This fic is focused mainly on my OC, so if you don't like stories like that, don't read this.  
> The universe here is a mashup of old lore ideas and new lore ideas combined into my own version of runeterra.

### Prologue Part 1 - Calm

It was a single, pencil-thin beam of sunlight coming in through a small hole in the ceiling and straight onto Crystal’s eye that woke her. She brushed a strand of her white hair out of her face as she sat up and looked at Tahna, curled up in the covers and snoring lightly. 

_She’s so beautiful when she’s sleeping. Well, all the time, but especially when she’s sleeping._

Crystal had to force herself to stop admiring her wife and get out of the bed. Putting on her eyepatch and throwing a cloak over her shoulders, she stepped outside into the Ionian morning air. 

She had figured out long ago that sunrise was the best time to go on a walk, going out every morning to let her mind and feet wander. The sound of birds and the wind filled her ears as she walked past the spirit-oak tree in the center of the village. It wasn’t until half an hour later, far outside the village, that she realised that her feet had started taking her to _that_ place again. Instead of turning around, though, she let them take her. 

_Here we go again._

It was probably the guilt of lying that made her keep coming back. Or maybe it was the fear that, somehow, Tahna would find out and never forgive her. Either way, the area was a familiar sight. The clearing was fairly large, but, more noticeably, full of tall, angled rocks jutting out of the ground like half-buried pillars of a ruined temple. Around the edge, most were at a fairly shallow angle, easy to scale. Closer to the middle, however, the stones became much steeper. It was about three-quarters of the way in that Crystal stopped. The pillar she was next to was taller and steeper than those around it. 

The climb to the top was easy — a combination of her lithe body and the fact that she had done it countless times — but it was the small, rusted lockbox that was chained to the top that was the focus of her attention. She unlocked it and took out the only object that was inside: a marble-sized, light blue orb. She rolled the source of her secret around her fingers as she thought about the last few times she had let herself come here. Each time coming in she had the thought that she would tell Tahna, but the last time she had even come close to doing that was on their second anniversary almost a year ago. 

She moved the eyepatch aside and held the orb up to the empty socket, before sighing and pocketing it. Three years ago, on their wedding day, she had vowed to herself that she wouldn’t use it again; that this was her only opportunity for a new life, and she wouldn’t waste that. However, she knew she would tell Tahna eventually, and the longer she waited, the bigger the fallout would be. That’s why she decided to bring the orb back today: in case she found the strength. She doubted she would, as she hadn’t the week before, or the month before that, but it was still worth a shot. 

Returning to the village, her thoughts were flooded with the one question that had stopped her so many times before. How would she do it? She had run the scenario in her head so many times and in so many different ways that she couldn’t remember half the outcomes, and of those she could remember, none of them ended well. 

_Maybe there is no way to tell her without her hating me. It is my fault after all. If I hadn’t waited this long maybe it would have been possible, but now? Maybe I should just tell her anyway. Let it happen. Just whip out the orb and say “Hey! I used to be” -_

Screams knocked her from her thoughts, the cacophony of terror coming from the direction of the village. Crystal broke into a run. It couldn’t be, could it? No, why would they be all the way out here? 

The banner confirmed her fears. 

_Noxus_

  


### Prologue Part 2 - Storm

Crystal cleared the tree line around the village only a few minutes after she had started running. The sight that greeted her was horrific. Bodies of the people she had spent the last five years with were strewn throughout, many with gaping wounds still pouring blood onto the once pristine stone. Soldiers, wearing spiked armour and dark steel helmets, were combing through houses looking for anyone who might be alive. And, right in the middle of it all, a single red banner, the axehead symbol of Noxus in the center. Despite seeing all this, Crystal didn’t slow down. She ran straight through the carnage and ignored the shouts of those still alive as she made a mad dash for the place she had left Tahna sleeping just over an hour earlier. 

She got there too late. 

The final cries reached her ears as she crashed through the door. She saw the cold, cruel steel of the Noxian greataxe cleave through Tahna’s back, blood erupting from the line drawn diagonally down from her shoulder. 

“No!” Crystal howled, falling to her knees in the doorway. Tahna couldn’t be dead; She had never done anything wrong; she was innocent. _I had never been able to tell her the truth._ “No,” she breathed, barely a whisper. 

“You should have run when you had the chance.” 

The soldier’s laugh brought her back to reality. He walked slowly towards her, axe swung back over his shoulder, dripping with blood. 

Her grief turned to anger. Rage was the only thing that filled her mind when she pulled the eyepatch down onto her neck and shoved the blue orb from her pocket into the empty eye socket. As soon as it was in place, strings of light blue particles shot out of the orb and attached themselves to the inside of the socket. The orb hovered in place and she felt its familiar power course through her. 

“You’re the one who should be running,” she snarled. 

All it took was a thought to make the orb pulse, but when it did, blue, needle-thin lines shot out of it in all directions. They tore through the air and formed a web of cracks: tears in the fabric of reality. She held her hand underneath one of these fractures, and suddenly particles — the same as those holding the orb in place — flooded out of them into the form of her weapon: ‘Gaenya’. 

Halfway between a dagger and a shortsword in length, its curved blade was made of a metal that was as sharp as Noxian steel, and as white as the snow on Mount Targon. The handle was perfectly sized for her hand and, in between, a silver arch, the opening on the back edge of the blade. In this opening was another blue orb, hovering there in the same way - connected by strings of blue particles. 

“What the…? Who are you?” The soldier said, the arrogance in his voice replaced with confusion. 

Crystal looked him in the eye, a sadistic grin spreading across her face as she took a calm but menacing step toward the soldier. She watched the axe fall from his shoulder to hang by his side as his face alternated between fear and aggression. She took another step forward. This time though, the step was accompanied by her weapon exploding into a cloud of blue particles before reforming again in reverse grip. He took a step back as his resolve vanished at this show of power, his axe left clattering to the floor. She relished the sight - the slight shaking, the panic in his eyes - one of the two reactions every foot soldier or guard seemed to have. Watching them run or freeze in fear at the sight of her was _so_ much more fun than when they tried to attack anyway. She took another step forward. For every step she took toward the soldier, the soldier took one back. He fell backward, tripping over Tahna before scrambling to his feet and retreating to the wall. Crystal stepped over it, no room in her thoughts left to care. She kept walking until there was almost no distance between them. 

“I am Kyrian’oune.” 

The statement was punctuated with the soldier’s scream as she drove Gaenya into his shoulder. The cry of pain didn’t last long though, because with yet another thought, the orb in the blade pulsed, sending out fractures that cut holes through the soldier’s armour and flesh like they weren’t even there. He went limp as blood poured from the countless openings that riddled his body. Crystal stood and watched as the fractures dissipated and the corpse fell to the floor. As soon as she heard it thud against the wood, she turned and left the house. 

Just a step outside and she could count the number of soldiers around the village. 17. They _all_ had to pay. 

She threw Gaenya into the air, catching it by the blade and then launching it with all her strength. It spun in a smooth arc through the air toward a soldier. The impact left the blade stuck in his shoulder as he let out a cry of pain. But before he could move to grab it, Crystal once again made the orb within it pulse. He died instantly, his corpse held up only by the fractures; his axe falling to the ground. 

_16 left._

Crystal made her eye pulse and her entire body exploded into a cloud of blue particles. But unlike her dagger earlier, she didn’t re-form in place. Instead, the particles accelerated into the nearby fractures before reappearing out of the ones created around Gaenya. By the time she was physical again, she was already pulling her weapon out of the soldier’s body. 

By now the soldiers had seen what was happening. She laughed. If any of them had known who she was - what she was capable of - they would all be running, their tails between their legs. But none of them knew, and so she laughed as she took her dagger and held the orb within. Then she stopped laughing, the emotion on her face changing faster than the wind. Serious now, she channelled the power of the orb, letting it flow into her body. The orb slowly lost its colour as it faded to a dull gray. The energy made Crystal’s back arch; a cloud of blue particles filling the area around her. 

The orb pulsed. 

Fractures exploded out. 

A dim blue glow flooded the village as shouts of “Get her!” turned to cries of pain. The soldiers that had been nearby were torn through instantly. The ones further away, however, had only a few wounds. _Oh well, I can fix that._

_8 left._

Once again Crystal’s body turned into particles and flowed into the fracture and out, forming right behind one of the surviving soldiers. Before he even knew she was there she had delivered a brutal stab to the back of his neck. Blood spurted from the wound but she was gone before it touched her. 

_7 left._

Materialise. Stab. Gone. 

_6 left._

Materialise. Stab. Gone. 

_5 left._

_4 left._

_3 left._

As she struck the back of one last neck, the glow faded from the village, the fractures gone, and the orb in the dagger back to blue once more. 

_2 left._

Crystal caught sight of the last two running at the edge of the treeline. Gaenya flew clean through the middle, the orb within pulsing at just the right time for both to go down before either could so much as whisper. 

_0 left._

Suddenly she noticed the silence. No animals, no Ionians, no Noxians. Just the sound of her own ragged breaths. Thirty seconds passed before even a gust of wind broke the silence. Then another minute after that. Five minutes later and Crystal still hadn't moved from where she had made the last throw. Five minutes before the last of the adrenaline was out of her system. Five minutes before she realised she had broken every single vow she had made to herself three years ago. 

_What have I ..._

Suddenly she was overcome with pain. The weight of her clothes; the warmth of the sun; the emptiness within her. It was too much. 

_Tahna ..._

Almost a reflex, she pulsed the orb in her eye and let herself fall into the unlimited light blue expanse that was the fractured realm. 

  


### Prologue Part 3 - Realm

_How long have I been here?_

These moments of conscious thought were fleeting, but she didn’t remember that. 

_I could go back._

Monochrome blue filled her vision. 

_Maybe I should._

She couldn’t see her own body, or even feel it. The blue might as well have been darkness. 

_There’s nothing left for me there. No one._

Drifting. 

_Do I want to go back to my old life? YES! No. But I could go back for a bit. I can always come back._

A pulse. This she could feel. 

_Ok then. Let’s go._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first fic, any comments/reviews are much apreciated.  
> New chapters as they are written, hopefully every other week at least


	2. Reflection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This a short one. Hope you guys enjoy.

### Chapter 1 - Reflection

Crystal adjusted her eyepatch as she approached the entrance to the Institute of War. Covering most of the town, white walls stretched away in both directions, their height dwarfing most of the nearby buildings. But bringing her hand up to the oaken gate, she hesitated. 

_It’s been fifteen years, people might not remember you._

She had been in the fractured realm longer than she thought; and though she didn’t look or feel any older, too much had changed for it to have been a lie. The League of Legends being formed was just one of the many differences. She steeled herself before going in. 

The hall she entered could only be described as grand. Towering pillars ran down the hall on either side, the engravings that decorated them only outdone by the pattern that covered the floor. Large areas of the wall were beautiful landscape images from around Runeterra that seemed to be built into the stone instead of painted on. The entire place seemed to shimmer slightly with prismatic light, and despite there being no windows, it was just as bright as it had been outside. Hanging from the ceiling were 10 banners, each with the symbol that represented a nation or city. Crystal recognised most of them, naming each to herself as she walked past, but a couple she had never seen before. As she got closer to the door at the other end of the hall, she made out an inscription written on it: ‘The truest enemy lies within’. 

Everything went black. Then, just as suddenly, she was in Zaun again. 

* * *

Crystal looked over her shoulder. She knew to be careful even in the best parts of the undercity; Here, at the bottom of the entresol, was not one of those parts. This far down the only real light was the green chemtech glow that spilled out of every building, and the multitude of alleyways left plenty of hiding places for people looking to steal your money or your limbs. She shot a look over her other shoulder before hurrying her pace a little. 

In hindsight maybe coming down here wasn’t worth it. The money she had been offered would barely buy three days of food, and it wasn’t worth her life. But the job was easy. Just pick up a part and get back. He had made it seem easy, like the reason he didn’t go himself was because he was too busy, but now she was down here she knew it was because he was scared. Any sane person would be. But she was too far in for it to be worth turning back now. 

It was then that she heard them. First footsteps, then laughter, then a voice. 

“What’s a pretty Pilty like you doin’ down ‘ere?” 

She knew she should be running. But instead, she stood there, her legs frozen in fear. The second voice came from behind her. 

“Don’t you know it's not safe to be walking these streets alone?” 

“I...uh.” Crystal tried to speak but her voice got caught in her throat. 

The one that had spoken the most, the leader she assumed, had a disproportionately large chemtech arm and carried a metal rod that would otherwise be too heavy to pick up. The rest, she counted three, had smaller enhancements. He took a step back as he said, “Well lads, what you say we bring her to the Baron.” 

Everything entered slow motion as the three thugs closed the distance. The sounds of machinery faded as their footsteps became all she could hear. She felt the thud of her heart in her head. One of them grabbed her wrist. 

A pulse. 

Fractures weaved through the three thugs closest to her. It took her a second to realise what had happened: the fractures were back. It clearly took the leader a couple of seconds too, because when she looked at him, he was just staring at her, flabbergasted. Then the rod clanked against the street as he shot off away from her. 

_If he gets away the Baron will come for me._

She wasn’t sure where the thought came from, but she knew it was true. She was equally unsure as to why she held her hand out until a white blade formed into it out of the fractures. Well, it seemed to solve her problem. She threw the weapon at the fleeing chempunk as hard as she could and it sailed perfectly into his leg. 

He went down with a cry of pain. Crystal ran over to him as he tried to crawl away. This gang had roamed the streets of Zaun, ruining people's lives and selling them as slaves. This is what they deserved. She pulled the dagger out of his leg. 

But as she brought it down into the back of his neck he was suddenly facing her, the dagger caught between his hands. 

_This isn’t what happened._ She remembered the satisfaction of the blade slicing into him, though she was now horrified by that reaction. 

“Why do you wish to join the league?” He said. 

“They try to stop people dying. I want to help. I’ve killed too many” 

“And?” 

“If I start again, I think they might be the only people who can stop me.” 

“How does it feel exposing your mind?” 

“It wasn’t the worst thing I could have been shown.” 

A flash of black and she was back in the hall, still kneeling over a now nonexistent person, her arm still in position to bring down the dagger. Then she noticed a Piltovan looking woman standing over her. 

“Welcome to the League.” 


	3. Institute

### Chapter 2 - Institute

Crystal stood up slowly, getting a glance of the woman from the corner of her eye. She was tall and wore casual clothes, even by Piltovan standards. She also appeared to be unarmed, though she could easily be a mage. If she was going to attack, Crystal decided, she would have done so already. 

_So I’m thinking like that again, huh._

“What was that?” Crystal asked. 

“We call it a reflection. It helps us make sure you want to fight for the League, not against it. But I’ll get back to that later. My name’s Telaryn, summoner, leader of team JOLT and, more relevant to you, the one who’s going to be giving you a tour. Are you ready to start now or do you want to get something to eat first?” 

“Crystal.” She said, readjusting her eyepatch slightly, “and I already ate.” 

Telaryn looked at her with slight confusion. “Crystal? Not —” 

“No.” The response was firm. She was here to escape Kyrian’oune, not become her again. 

“Okay then.” Telaryn went to the door with the inscription and held it open. “Let’s go.” 

* * *

Leaving the entrance hall, the Institute was not like what Crystal expected. The height and colour of the walls had reminded her of Demacia, so she thought it would be more of the same: large white structures covering every inch of land. Instead, what she saw was a vast Ionian landscape, twisting paths weaving past buildings from every region. Freljordian architecture looked out of place within the vibrant flora; Piltovan and Demacian didn’t fare much better. But most of all, she was surprised by how few buildings there were. With a name like the Institute of War, she was expecting a stone complex, barely a blade of grass in sight, but that couldn’t have been further from reality. She didn’t let the surprise show, however, and it wasn’t long before Telaryn started talking. 

“So because people are usually hungry after their reflection, the first stop on the tour is the food hall, even if you don’t want to eat.” 

The walk there wasn’t short, but Crystal didn’t mind. The cooler temperature of mainland Runeterra made it feel a lot like one of her morning walks, and Telaryn’s explanation of the League’s history and function was surprisingly interesting. 

Arriving at their destination, the building itself was easily the largest one Crystal had seen so far, but nothing about the exterior could have prepared her for what was inside. 

The whole building was one massive hall, the middle filled with tables that could easily fit ten people around them. Lining the edges, vendors sat in alcoves decorated in the style of their region, each selling a unique variety of foods. However, it was the people that got her. On one side, she saw a purple minotaur talking to a Zaunite robot, both of which were watching as brightly coloured vastaya danced on the table. On the other, she saw two Bilgewater men playing cards with a boy sitting on a yeti, and a girl of a similar age (stranger yet, it looked like the Bilgewater men were losing). And that was just the weird things. Several small groups of people filled the rest of the hall, eating at tables or standing around. Crystal had never seen this many people of this many nations around each other so peacefully. 

This time, the surprise did show. 

“Yeah, that was my reaction the first time seeing it too,” said Telaryn, who was now standing beside Crystal. “There are more people here than normal, but still.” 

Crystal swept her eyes over the hall again. With a little more attention to detail, it was actually fairly easy to tell champion from summoner. Most of the champions either had weapons on them or within reach, or were not entirely human. The summoners tended to be in groups of four or five and looked less alert in general. There was one person that stood out however — a Piltovan woman in a top-hat. On one hand, she was nowhere near a weapon, and looked like the most relaxed person in the room. On the other, she was sitting by herself, which would make her the only summoner not in a group. 

“Who’s that?” she asked Telaryn, nodding at the woman. 

“That’s Caitlyn. Really smart and really good with her weapon. Kind too. She used to be the sheriff of Piltover, before she became a champion. They actually still send her things when there’s a hard case because she’s just that good.” 

_So a champion then. A relaxed one, but a fighter nonetheless. That means she won’t — dammit, I thought I got past this._

After Crystal didn’t respond, Telaryn continued, “Anyway, I’ll keep the explanation short. If you live in the Institute, everything from these vendors is free. They take your name and the League pays for it later, so it’s all pretty easy. Oh! One thing you should know is…” 

The explanation was not short. But between Telaryn’s small pieces of advice and watching the constant flow of people around the hall (and the chaos being caused by the orange half-bird vastaya), Crystal was entertained enough. Eventually though, they made their way out of the hall and continued the tour. 

* * *

It was almost evening by the time they reached their last destination - one of the several halls of the unaligned - and Crystal was starting to regret not getting something to eat when she had the chance. The tour had gone fairly well, she thought, but she had severely underestimated how far apart everything was. _It’s not over yet though, still plenty of time for something to go wrong._

Telaryn started talking as they went in. “So this hall, along with all the other halls built by the League, have rooms for six different champions, though a lot of them are empty most of the time.” 

Inside the entrance was a short hallway, three doors on each side, and each with a silver plaque in a slot above. The first one on the left read ‘Ezreal, the Prodigal Explorer’. Telaryn walked past it to a door with a blank plaque. She unlocked it before throwing the keys to Crystal. 

“Those are yours now, don’t lose them.” Crystal nodded. “You got some standard things in there: bed, desk, dresser. Anything else that you want you can get yourself. Unless you quit the League, it’s your room now.” 

Telaryn slid the plaque out of the slot and started toward the exit. A few steps later, she turned around. 

“So as your guide I get to decide what goes on this.” She held the plaque out for a moment. “How does ’Crystal, the Fracture’s Blade’ sound to you? Based on your reaction earlier, my original plan wasn’t going to work.” 

Crystal nodded in response, “Thank you.” 

“No problem,” Telaryn said. “Remember to be at the summoning hall tomorrow morning for your balance match.” 

And with that, Crystal was alone once more. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-ed by WalkInTheSkies

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic, any comments/reviews are much apreciated.  
> New chapters as they are written, hopefully every other week at least.


End file.
